Division of mechanical devices;

Page 1

Bulletin HASKINS & SELLS 3
Division of Mechanical Devices
IF the mechanical devices for making office
records were taken off the market it
would be a serious calamity.
To obtain present-day records using pen-and-
ink. methods would be about as practi­cable
as manufacturing without steam, elec­tricity,
and machinery.
There are many office devices being suc­cessfully
used. They never tire. They
work with as much speed and accuracy at
6 P.M. as at 8 A. M. With their aid the
operator does more work. They provide
legibility and convenience for those using
the records. Through the skill of the sys-tematizer
more work is daily being applied
to them. No modern method can be in­stalled
without their use. They have estab­lished
their worth. They are indispensable.
Our clients, financiers, manufacturers,
and office managers have proved their confi­dence
in them. Their uses are of vital in­terest
to the public accountant. We need
this knowledge in our work. Mr. Track is
obtaining it, as is indicated by the following
discussion.
Taking office appliances generally, there
are three elements to consider, viz., the op­erator,
the machine, and the work applied.
In order to gauge the value of the device
in these respects each device examined is
being submitted to the following tests:
THE OPERATOR:
Must she be skillful?
Must she be especially trained?
Must she have a knowledge of bookkeep­ing?
What salary does she command?
Can she be easily replaced?
Is the office force so small that only she
operates the machine?
THE MACHINE:
1. Is it easy or tiresome to operate?
2. Is it portable?
3. Is it flexible enough to do a variety of
work?
4. Is the active mechanism exposed or in­cased?
5. Is it easily put out of order?
6. What mechanical "fool proof" ar­rangements
has it; or are none required?
7. How are errors corrected?
8. How many operations are required on
the average item or calculations?
9. Can mechanical adjustments or re­pairs
be made by mechanics other than
those in the dealers' service?
10. How near is the service station?
11. Are supplies controlled or sold in the
open market?
12. Is the machine as fast as the oper­ator,
or are there waits in operations?
13. Do special features or attachments
retard or increase the speed of the machine,
and how much?
14. What is the life of the machine, the
salvage, and the cost per year?
15. To what extent does the manufac­turer
guarantee the machine?
16. Does the machine indicate results by
individual operations, or are the intervening
figures suspended until the final result is
shown?
17. Is it a single keyboard machine?
18. Does it typewrite?
19. Does it add?
20. Does it subtract direct, or by use of
complements?
21. Does it divide as by table or by use of
reciprocals or complements?
22. Does it multiply as by table or by
successive additions?
23. Does the machine print the totals, or
are they copied and typed by the operator?
The questions were not written in the se­quence
of importance, but were numbered